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###### Department of the Interior

###### National Park Service

          - [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037063; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

# AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

# ACTION:

Notice.

# SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from McDonald County, MO.

# DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after January 12, 2024.

# ADDRESSES:

                        Ryan Wheeler, Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, 180 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810, telephone (978) 749-4490, email                         *rwheeler@andover.edu.*

# SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records held by the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology.

## Description

Human remains representing, at minimum, 15 individuals were removed from Jacob's Cavern in McDonald County, MO. At the invitation of E.H. Jacobs, Charles Peabody, and Warren Moorehead of the Department of Archaeology at Phillips Academy (now the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology) traveled to Jacob's Cavern in April of 1903 to examine the site. The ancestors are five adults of indeterminate sex, five adult males, three adult females, one juvenile of indeterminate sex, and one infant. The 203 associated funerary objects are 203 faunal bone fragments.

Human remains representing, at minimum, 13 individuals were removed from Undetermined Sites in Pineville in McDonald County, MO. Undetermined Sites in Pineville is an amalgamation of four different undefined localities associated with Pineville, MO. The ancestors were removed between 1895 to 1905 by individuals associated with the Peabody Institute. The ancestors are 10 adults of indeterminate sex, two adult males, and one infant. The 215 associated funerary objects are two soil samples, two sherds, and 211 faunal bone fragments.

## Cultural Affiliation

The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were used to reasonably trace the relationship: archeological information, geographical information, historical information, linguistics, oral tradition, and other relevant information.

## Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology has determined that:
    - The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of 28 individuals of Native American ancestry.
    - The 418 objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.
    - There is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice and The Osage Nation.

## Requests for Repatriation

                    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in                     **ADDRESSES**                    . Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:                

1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice.

2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after January 12, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects are considered a single request and not competing requests. The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice.

*Authority:*                     Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, and 10.14.                

Dated: December 6, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program. 

[FR Doc. 2023-27377 Filed 12-12-23; 8:45 am]

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